Indian Premier League auctions are still three weeks away but the player retention will be held on Thursday. Before that, eight teams have to reveal the names of the players they have decided to retain. If no player is retained by any of the franchise, then it will have to reveal that too. How many players can be retained? What is the salary cap? What are the rules for CSK and RR — the two teams who are back after a ban? All these questions and more are answered below:

What is IPL player retention?
IPL 2018 will see eight teams taking part in the tournament and in player auctions, scheduled for later this month. Six teams, namely Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will continue from the last seasons. Two teams — Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) — are back in IPL after serving a two-year ban. These eight teams will have option of retaining five players in total.

The retention can be done in two ways: a) Retention b) Right to Match. Right to Match (RTM) is an option for the teams to retain a player by bidding for the player who has been sold in the player auction. A team has to spend the same amount in which the player is sold in the auction. A team which decides to not retain a player and the said player is bought by another team in the auction, the first team can access their RTM option and get the said player but for the amount in which the second team bought the said player.

Direct retention is an option for teams to retain maximum of three players without using the RTM option. Three players retained by a team can have to match one of the following criteria. There are also specific salary caps which need to followed while retaining the players.

How many players can an IPL team retain?
By a combination of the two options — Direct Retention and RTM — a team can retain a maximum of five players. By Direct Retention, a team can retain a maximum of three players without using the RTM option. Three players retained by a team can have to match one of the following criteria.

If the team decides to retain only two players, then it can use three RTMs in auction. Maximum times a team can use RTM is three so if a team has retained only one player or no player at all, then during the auction, it can retain only three.

How will the process work for CSK and RR?
CSK and RR are back in IPL after a two-year ban. For the two teams, the players available for retention/RTM will be the ones who played for them respectively in IPL 2015 and were also part of either Rising Pune Supergiants or Gujarat Lions squads in IPL 2017. Other guidelines for retention and RTM during auction will remain same for them.

What was the Player Retention process in the past?
Back in 2008, the original rule that was signed by BCCI and the IPL team owners was that all players will be in the auction pool after three years. But, in 2011, this rule was changes and teams were allowed retain four players with a maximum of three Indian players. After three years in 2014, a franchise was allowed to retain a maximum of 5 players. Out of these five players, a maximum of four capped Indians were allowed. Even players who were temporarily available for the team were allowed. Earlier, the process was done by exchanging e-mail and this is the first time it will be televised.

How will IPL Player Retention affect auctions?
The retention and RTM will change the economics of the auction. Big names like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, AB de Villiers, David Warner (all likely to retained) could have broken the records for the highest amount but now, they may not be in the auction pool. This saves a lot of money from the teams’ purse. Even with RTM, the teams which want a particular player can retain him by using RTM but will play him the amount which he is sold for in the auction. Still, the IPL franchises have to spend their money smartly as many big names will be in the auction. Players like Ben Stokes, who broke the record for the costliest international player ever in IPL, can break the record again.